May 17, 2015

Former Bronx Born Mets Minor League Manager: Dan Monzon (1978-1982)

Daniel Francisco Monzon was born on May 20th, 1946 in the Bronx, New York. He attended James Monroe High School and was two years behind Ed Kranepool at the school.

The famous public high school also had famous alumni as Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg, actor Danny Aiello & actress Estelle Reiner, mother of Archie Bunker’s son in law “meat head” Rob Reiner. It was Estelle Reiner who had the famous line in Harry met Sally saying “I’ll have what she’s having” in Katz’s delicatessen. Also attending Monroe were the girl group The Chiffons, actors Robert Strauss & Lost In Spaces Jonathan Harris, as well as NFL players Wilbur Young & Darren Carrington.

Monzon would attend Buena Vista University getting signed by the Minnesota Twins in the second round of the 1967 draft as an infielder. In 1972 he hit .305 at AAA Portland in the Pacific Coast League making the Twins big league club in 1972. As a utility player he saw action in 55 games batting .273 (15-55) with five RBIs. In 1973 he saw action in 39 games batting .239 stealing a base in each season. At second he backed up Rod Carew & at third played behind Steve Braun in those seasons.

He never appeared in the majors again, but became a successful manager in the Mets organization from 1978-1982. His highest finish was in 1980 with the Little Falls Mets, third place in the New York Penn. League. In 1981 he took the Lynchburg Mets to the Playoffs but lost in the first round. After managing, he became a Mets scout through the 1986 Championship season.

Monzon moved on to the White Sox & Red Sox organizations in the late eighties. In 1995 he was killed in an automobile accident in Santo Domingo, he was just 49 years old.